The Tour de France took place without him, but the world did not stop turning for Julien Alaphilippe this past July. Rather, the world has brought him to a disproportionate place. While the Tour peloton was crossing the Galibier, Alaphilippe was hard at work in a training camp on the other side of the Alps, in Livigno. And while the Tour reaches its finale this weekend, the world champion is more active in Mulle de Uys.

The Tour de Wallonie, which opens Saturday, will kick off the rest of Alaphilippe's season, and after a major crash in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race in April, Alaphilippe was determined to return in time for the Tour. Although he recovered enough to run in the national championships, he was not fit enough to compete in the Grande Pearl a week later with the Quick-Step Alphavinir team.

"It wasn't so hard to watch, and I was happy to be able to follow my friends running on TV after training," Alaphilippe told reporters on Friday. But between training and being a father, there was a lot to do."

Alaphilippe has plenty to do in the weeks ahead. From here until the end of the season, his program is intense: five days of the Tour de Wallonie, followed by next weekend's Clasica San Sebastian, and then the Tour de Ain (August 9-11) as a final tune-up for the Vuelta a España. From Spain, he will head straight to Australia for his third consecutive world title and then on to Lombardy.

"I had no luck at the beginning of the season. I was sick and the conditions were not what I wanted," said Alaphilippe.

"When you're wearing the rainbow jersey and things don't go your way, it's seen as catastrophic."

Alaphilippe's season was interrupted by two broken ribs, a fractured scapula, and a punctured lung suffered in a group crash before the Col du Rosier in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. These injuries forced him off the bike for almost a month, away from the Tour, and forced him to start the season over completely.

"The main objective this week is to have fun and get into the rhythm of the race. Of course I want to attack and get a result. But first I have to see where I am. It's good to chase results, but it's also important to create the right conditions," Alaphilippe said.

"This is a different program from previous years and I want to stay fresh for the end of the season. I've been training at altitude. I haven't done any crazy training to be ready right away, but I'm still interested to see what happens in Wallonie before San Sebastian. There's also the Tour de Ain, which will be a good block before the Vuelta."

Alaphilippe last competed in the Vuelta in 2017, another injury-plagued season, but he shined in that race with a stage win, came within a few hundred meters of the rainbow jersey late in the season, and finished second in Il Lombardia He was within a few hundred meters of the rainbow jersey at the end of the season, and was second at Il Lombardia. He dismissed the notion that finishing this year's Vuelta might not be compatible with a third consecutive world title race in Wollongong in two weeks.

"I think it would be nice to run the Vuelta," he said. But to be honest, I have no idea about the course of the World Championships. I know it will be held in Australia and it will be difficult, but beyond that I don't know. But it's a long way off, and there are other races before then."

At the Tour de Wallonie on Saturday, Alaphilippe will wear a race number and ride on more familiar terrain. In April, three-time Flèche Wallonne winner Alaphilippe disappeared from the podium for the first time at his sixth attempt.

"It's not 'my' Mule de Huy, not at all," he said. "As much as I hate that finish, I love it. But given the two weeks in Livigno, I don't know if I can win there on Saturday. I've done a lot of climbing at the high altitude training camp, but I haven't done any special preparation like I would do for the Flèche Wallonne. But I don't have special preparation like I do for Flèche Wallonne.

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